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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟑
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐊 𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐒𝐓
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It had been three hours since Alex got home from school and she would be the first to admit that was the most boring part of her day. All she'd been doing was sitting around the apartment she used to live in with Charlie doing her homework. That only lasted for about an hour and a half. The rest of her time was spent sitting on the couch watching a show she couldn't care less about. Most people would find the silence peaceful and would take advantage of the alone time, but Alex hated it. It reminded her of the part of her life she spent locked away in one of HYDRA's bases.
The Easton girl tried using the phone Charlie sent her to call her and Pietro but she was greeted with the familiar voicemail. It wasn't long after Alex gave up trying to reach them when she got a text that she'd received more times than she could count.
CHARLIE:
Sorry we missed your call.
We were spotted so we're
on the move again. We'll
try to call you when we get
to our next safe house.
ALEX:
That's okay. Stay safe.
It had been almost thirty minutes since she sent that message and she couldn't help the bitterness that started flowing through her veins. She and Charlie were living a great life before Steve Rogers called her. Sure, it wasn't everything Alex dreamed of, but she was happy...which was a lot more than she could say about her life before meeting the Barton girl.
Don't get her wrong. Alex wasn't angry at any of the Avengers or the other heroes for their actions. What was really bothering the Easton girl was her own choices. Despite the Barton girl and her father doing everything in their power to keep the redhead out of their civil war, Alex wished she went with Charlie. That way her only choices now wouldn't be living on her own in New York or living a secluded life on the Barton Farm.
After letting out a long sigh, the Easton girl stood up from the couch and made her way to the kitchen. Her feet took her straight to the fridge to look for anything she could make for dinner, only to be greeted by an empty space. A groan passed over her lips as she shut the refrigerator door before grabbing her keys from the counter and making her way toward the front door. Alex's plans to head downstairs to the deli were soon interrupted by a familiar voice coming from the fire escape.
"Hey, Happy. Here's my report for tonight. I stopped a grand theft bicycle. Couldn't find the owner, so I just left a note. Um, I helped this lost old Dominican lady. She was really nice and bought me a churro," Peter explained from his place on the fire escape railing, completely unaware of the girl listening to his conversation from the apartment behind him, "I just feel like I could be doing more. You know? Just curious when the next real mission's gonna be. So, yeah, just call me back. It's Peter. Parker."
"Who knew life as Spider-Man would be so exciting?" Alex mocked after quietly opening the window, causing Peter to jump and drop a cartridge of his web fluid. The Easton girl watched with amusement in her eyes as the Parker boy stood perpendicular to the fire escape after barely saving his possession.
"What are you doing here?" the brunette boy questioned as he sat back down on the fire escape railing and placed the web fluid cartridge on his wrist.
"Uh, I live here," the Easton girl told him, earning what seemed like a shocked look under the boy's face mask as a smirk slowly formed on Alex's face, "what's your excuse? Need a place to eat your churro?"
Before Peter had a chance to respond, the sound of glass breaking cut through the air. The two teens instantly turned toward the source of the sound to see four men breaking into the bank across the street. Alex just stared down at the scene below her before her attention was drawn back to Peter after he muttered something under his breath. When she turned to look at the Parker boy once again, he was pulling his mask down over his face and swung toward the bank.
While Spider-Man entered the bank to deal with the situation at hand, Alex's eyes moved toward the black mask sitting on the table closest to her. A million thoughts raced through her as she stared at the simple piece of eyewear then she looked back down at the bank. Her whole body froze when she saw blue and purple lights flashing in the building below before a beam of light tore through the bank's walls and set fire to the deli across the street. As soon as she saw the flames emitting from the shop below, the Easton girl didn't hesitate to put on her mask before she sped down to the streets below.
Alex reached her destination in record time before she raced into the burning building. It wasn't long before she found Mr. Delmar, who she'd spoken to the few times she came into his shop. After she managed to get the man to his feet, the redheaded girl picked up his cat from the counter before getting both of them out of the destroyed store and to safety. While Alex handed the distressed cat over to the equally distressed man, Peter came over to check to make sure everyone was alright. When the two teens turned their attention back to the bank, the four thieves were gone. And it wasn't long before Spider-Man disappeared as well.
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After showering three times, Alex gave up on trying to get the smell of fire out of her hair. She reluctantly blow-dried her slightly singed locks before going to the kitchen to grab a slice of the pizza she ordered an hour ago. Once she had her dinner on a plate, the Easton girl grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and sat down on her couch once again.
The redheaded girl took a bite out of her pizza as she flipped on the TV. The screen immediately showed the news, causing Alex to let out a small groan before she went to change the channel. However, right as she was about to hit the button, she stopped in her tracks when she saw the picture on the screen. After staring at the TV for a long moment, Alex turned up the volume and leaned back on the couch to listen to what they were saying.
"The beloved Queen's institution, Delmar's Sandwiches, was destroyed in an explosion earlier tonight after an ATM robbery was thwarted by Queens' own colorful local crime-stopper, the Spider-Man," the news anchor announced as images of what occurred earlier that night flashed across the screen, "as the Spider-Man attempted to foil their heist, a powerful blast was set off, slicing through the bodega across the street. Luckily, a speedy hero swooped in and saved Delmar and his cat from the flames. Thanks to New York's newest vigilante, no one was harmed."
The last image that flashed across the screen was a picture of a masked Alex dressed in her plain black sweatshirt and matching sweatpants she was wearing earlier that night. The photo looked like it was taken right after she handed the cat over to Mr. Delmar before she checked to make sure both of them were okay. The Easton girl just stared at the shot of her for a moment longer before her pizza slipped out of her hand and onto her plate. It wasn't long after that when she muttered a single word under her breath.
"Sh*t."
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After a sleepless night of tossing and turning, Alex woke up before her alarm could even go off. The Easton girl just stared at the ceiling until the annoying noise greeted her ears. If it was up to her, Alex would've just stayed in bed all day and pretended that last night never happened. But it wasn't up to her and she needed to keep moving and get past the choice she made to get involved last night.
A long sigh soon passed over her lips after silencing her alarm before she rolled out of bed. Alex made her way to the kitchen a lot slower than usual until she finally reached the fridge to grab her breakfast. The redheaded girl stood by the window and looked down at the destruction below as she ate her cereal. Even though Alex knew she made the right choice to get involved, she couldn't help but feel she started digging a deep hole she couldn't get out of. Once she was finished getting ready for the day, Alex grabbed her backpack from the couch and left the apartment. The speedster practically forced herself to walk downstairs and out onto the streets of New York.
When she got to the corner that overlooked both the bank and the deli, Alex stopped and took everything in. A group of police cars surrounded what used to be Mr. Delmar's deli while others looked around the destroyed bank. Bystanders watched from a short distance away as their eyes and phones scanned over the destruction. It wasn't until Alex was standing there that she realized how much damage was actually caused by the purple beam.
Just as she was about to turn and continue walking towards Midtown School of Science and Technology, the Easton girl caught two people staring at her from across the street. It didn't take long for her to recognize Peter and his friend, Ned. However, before the boys could even think about crossing the street to talk to her, Alex spun around and began her journey to school.
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"Hi. I'm Captain America. Whether you're in the classroom or on the battlefield..." Alex sat on the bleachers next to a girl with her nose in a large book as her class watched a video about their fitness test. Gym was the Easton girl's least favorite class due to how much she had to hold back her abilities. One slip up and she would reveal everything to thirty teens and a bored-looking man.
"Do you know him, too?" Alex heard Ned ask Peter from his place in front of her, causing her eyes to move away from the screen before they landed on the back of the boys' heads.
"Yeah, we met," the Parker boy responded with a hint of pride in his voice then he leaned over and added, "I stole his shield."
The Easton girl couldn't help but roll her eyes at the two boys. She couldn't even begin to understand how they were completely oblivious to the students that surrounded them. It was as if Peter Parker wanted the world to know he was Spider-Man.
"Thank you, Captain," Coach Wilson announced, drawing Alex's attention back to the present, "pretty sure this guy's a war criminal now, but whatever. I have to show these videos. It's required by the state. Let's do it."
The next thing Alex knew, Coach Wilson blew his whistle to grab everyone's attention before he told them to pair up. The Easton girl wasn't surprised that everyone found partners and made their way toward the mats in a matter of seconds. A small sigh passed over her lips before she looked over at the last person sitting on the benches with her.
"Hey, I'm Alex."
"Michelle."
"So, uh, do you wanna be partners?" the Easton girl asked, causing the curly-haired girl to finally look away from her book to meet Alex's gaze.
The only response the redheaded girl received was a simple shrug before Michelle made her way onto the basketball court. Alex just watched her go for a moment then she got to her feet and followed after her. When the two of them finally reached one of the last open mats, the curly-haired girl lay down on it. The Easton girl watched with a small smile on her face as Michelle started lifting her book up and down like it was a weight. That continued for another moment before the Jones girl caught the redheaded girl watching her.
"What's so funny?" Michelle asked with a quirked eyebrow and her book still above her head.
"Nothing," Alex responded while her smile grew before a small laugh passed over her lips, "that's just the best workout I've ever seen."
The curly-haired girl just stared at the Easton girl for a long moment before a small smile appeared on her face. The two girls continued to talk as Michelle read her book and acted like she was actually participating in the class. However, their fun was soon interrupted by Ned shouting something that echoed throughout the gym.
"Peter knows Spider-Man!"
Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at Ned and Peter. Well, everyone except for Michelle, who went back to reading her book. Alex did her best to hide her smirk as she watched the Parker boy stare at his best friend with wide eyes and a wide-open mouth. The two boys just sat there for a long moment before Peter jumped to his feet to try and get himself out of the hole Ned dug for him.
"Uh, no, I don't. No. I-I mean-"
"They're friends!" Ned interrupted Peter's stammering with a smile on his face as everyone continued to stare at the duo with mixed emotions on their faces.
"Yeah, like Coach Wilson and Captain America are friends," Flash scoffed as he walked toward the two boys with a large grin on his face.
"I've met him, yeah. A couple times. But it's, uh...through the Stark Internship," the Parker boy admits while trying and failing to hide the shakiness of his voice before he turned around to look at Ned with annoyance in his eyes, "yeah, well, I'm not really supposed to talk about it."
"Well, that's awesome," the Thompson boy spoke in a tone that replaced Alex's amusement with irritation as the former walked towards Peter, "hey, you know what? Maybe you should invite him to Liz's party. Right?"
As soon as the words finished leaving Flash's mouth, everyone turned their attention to look at the Allen girl. It didn't take a genius to realize she was almost as uncomfortable about the current situation as Peter was. After letting out a long sigh, Liz turned her attention back to the Parker boy before she sent him a small smile. "Yeah, um, I'm having people over tonight. You're more than welcome to come."
"Yeah, it's gonna be dope," Flash said with a smirk still on his face while continuing to walk closer to Peter and Ned, "you should totally invite your personal friend Spider-Man."
Alex rolled her eyes at the Thompson boy, who continued to mock the two boys in front of him without any remorse. Even though she couldn't stand how the raven-haired boy treated Peter and Ned, the Easton girl couldn't help but wonder how the Parker boy was going to get out of this one.
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